


My magnum opus, weaver

by Oayahs



Category: N/A - Fandom
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-02-27
Updated: 2020-02-27
Packaged: 2021-02-28 03:01:25
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 7,695
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22916644
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Oayahs/pseuds/Oayahs
Summary: I'm never going to finish it but you can read it if you want





	My magnum opus, weaver

It was way past curfew. The streets Papi walked down every day felt completely unfamiliar. Dim neon lights of signs and billboards made it bright enough to see, but the silence was deafening. Papi picked up her pace, her grip on her satchel tightening. She did this to herself; she had no one else to blame. She silently cursed at herself; she shouldn't have gone out to go to that party. She chickened out at the last second, and she was frustrated with herself. It was what she wanted, some kind of change in her monotonous life, but she chickened out on her only shot of something new. Parties weren't her thing, but at this point, she was desperate for change.

As she walked out of an alley, a sudden flash of color grazed her cheek. a loud "BANG" broke the silence, followed by the muffled thump of her bag hitting the ground. She whipped around, a silhouette of a man brandishing some kind of gun staring back. She froze. As the next "BANG" rang out, a hand grabbed her shoulder and yanked her back into the alley, the bullet flying off into the distance. Papi gazed up at the tall man in a mask as he gently let go.

"Who are you?" Papi asked. The man didn't answer. He turned back toward the exit and muttered "Stay here," before disappearing into the street. A few moments felt like an eternity as someone cried out in pain in the distance. The man returned, handing Papi her bag. "Go home and forget everything you have seen here. Keep your mouth shut about it," He ordered. The girl was too busy staring at the flames blossoming out from the man's arm to pay attention to his words. As he began to leave, she couldn't help but follow him. She was so tired of living a boring life; this was her second chance. She didn't give it a second thought, she wasn't going to chicken out this time.

Her heart fluttered as she walked through areas she had never seen before. Eventually, the man went through a door. She stood in front of it, second guessing herself. Was this really worth it? Glancing around, she realized she couldn't go back even if she tried; she was completely lost. Gathering all her courage, she turned the handle and pushed the door open.

"Who the fuck is that?" An unfamiliar voice blurted. All eyes were on her. Papi froze, not sure what to do. She hadn't thought this through at all. Desperately trying to find something to say, she started to stutter. "P-Papilio-" she began, getting cut off by the man from before. "She's with me." The piercing stares lessened, but Papi's stomach churned; she was terrified. The man approached her. "I like your persistence. Follow me." Papi followed his directions, staying close behind him as he pushed past a small crowd of strangers. He opened the door for her, and papi hesitantly walked through. As he shut it behind them, a new voice startled Papi. "Takeuchi, what is it this time?" The lady asked harshly, her back facing them. Takeuchi stayed silent as the lady turned to look. "Who is that?" The lady asked. "She followed me here. Might as well see if she's useful." Takeuchi answered. The lady stood up and walked over to Papi, sizing her up. "She has potential. You sure you want her to join?" Takeuchi nodded. "She's already seen too much anyways," he added. Papi was confused. "What do you mean, ''potential"? What are you going to do to me?" 

the lady shushed her. "Shut up. You're being annoying. Sit down already." Papi complied, shaking from fear. "I don't even know who you are-" "My name is Karmen. Now you know me. Sit still." Karmen's fingers began to glow as she pulled off Papi's jacket. "What are you-" papi began to ask, but was shushed by karmen again. Pain shot up Papi's arm. "OW! TELL ME WHAT YOU ARE DOING ALREADY!" Karmen rolled her eyes. "I'm unlocking your magic. For the last time, shut up and let me finish it." Papi was even more confused than before, but was too afraid to disturb Karmen again. A few minutes later, a scarlet red mark on her arm began to shine vibrantly. "Congratulations. You're a blood magic user." Karmen said in a condescending way. "What do you mean? How did you do that? What did you do to me?" Papi asked. "Magic, dumbass. Thanks to that tattoo, you can use magic now. Imagine that you're holding a weapon in your hand." Papi decided that asking questions only made things more confusing, so she just followed directions.

She focused for a moment before looking down at her hand, shocked to see a pistol in her grasp. "Woah! How did I do that? Did you do that?" She was impressed and terrified at the same time. "No. That's what your magic does. What's your name?" Karmen seemed unimpressed. "My name is Papilionem," papi answered enthusiastically. "Papi it is," Karmen mumbled, standing up. "Alright, let's go." "Where?" "We're gonna show you how to use it." "Um, okay!" They entered a room with a bunch of training dummies and targets, and karmen pointed to one of them. "Shoot it." Papi hesitated. She didn't know how to use a gun. After a few awkward moments of her trying to pull the trigger, Takeuchi reached over and flipped off the safety. "Oh, um.. Sorry." Papi stuttered. Karmen's expression didn't change. "Shoot the target." 

As papi turned around to face the target, Karmen cracked a small smile. Papi pulled the trigger but was startled by the loud noise. The bullet flew past the target and lodged itself into the wall. "Okay, well at least you can fire it. Your aim is shit, though." Papi gave them a hopeful but shy smile. "So um, why did you do this to me in the first place?" She asked. "You saw too much; you don't really have a choice in the matter. If you didn't have potential, you'd be dead right now." Takeuchi bluntly stated. Papi's smile faded, and she responded with a quiet "oh". He then changed the subject. "Karmen, you should explain the types of magic to her."

"Oh yeah, okay. Basically there are 5 types, elemental, blood, animus, and shape-shifting. They're pretty self explanatory i guess, but you're probably too dense to figure it out, so I'll explain it to you. Elemental is obviously elements like fire and whatnot, it's the easiest to grasp. Their tattoos are green." Takeuchi pulled back his sleeve to reveal a cluster of lime green tattoos all over his skin. "Blood magic users have weapons that use their blood to infuse magic with it, so it's pretty dangerous or whatever. They have red tattoos." Karmen pointed to the still aching tattoo on Papi's shoulder. "Animus magic is basically summoning stuff to fight for you, they're purple, and even you should be able to know what shape-shifting is; they have yellow tattoos. Then there are weavers, like me. They have blue tattoos. They are the ones who can see and unlock the magical potential normals like you have, and initiate them into the gangs." Karmen gestured to one of her many blue tattoos.

Papi slowly nodded, having no fucking idea what they were talking about. "Since you have potential and have unlocked your magic, you're in the gang now. I'll show you how to use your gun correctly." Takeuchi declared. "You have an unlimited amount of regular bullets, but there are different types of magic you can infuse with them; light, ice, fire, and so on. However, you can't just shoot magic recklessly or it'll kill you. To use it, just imagine the element you want to use and the gun will do the work for you. Before you try it out, let me explain how the blood system works-" Papi pulled the trigger at the target again, surprised to see a bright fiery light shoot out from the pistol and hit the outermost ring of the target.

"DID YOU SEE THAT?? I DID IT!!" papi cheered. "That target is not fireproof," Takeuchi calmly stated as it burst into flame. The fire began to spread rapidly, and papi panicked. Takeuchi didn't even flinch. Casually walking over to the fire, he loosely raised his arm and a burst of blue mist came out of his fingers as he put out the flames. Turning back to papi, who was apologizing profusely, he gently but firmly took the gun out of her hands.

"The blood system is how blood magic users can regulate their magic use. On the side of your gun is a bar that has 100 units. This represents a percentage of the blood in your body. Each type of bullet you use costs a specific amount of points, the stronger the bullet, the more points it costs. You just used 20 points on that fire bullet you shot. To get your points back, Karmen can fix your wounds." Karmen sauntered over and drew a symbol with her fingers over papi's heart, instantly making her feel more energized.

"What was that?" Papi asked. "Healing spell," karmen nonchalantly replied. Takeuchi continued his lecture. "There are many different types of bullets, but the easiest to use are fire bullets, ice bullets, earth bullets, and light bullets. There are other kinds of bullets, but they tend to be unique to each blood magic user. All the common bullets cost 20 points except light bullets, which cost 10. Did you get all that?" 

Papi had a deer in headlights look in her eyes. "Uh huh.." She slowly nodded in an unconvincing way. "You'll understand better once you practice more. Anyways, it's getting late. I'll show you where you'll be sleeping." Papi paused. "Wait, what? I have an apartment, I can just sleep there." Karmen shook her head. "You can't go back. There's a reason the normals don't know about magic." Karmen suddenly got very serious. "If you are caught using magic, they tie you up and burn you alive. You can never go home." Papi looked scared but also sad. "But there's so much stuff I have at home that I might need," she whined. "We have everything we need down here," Karmen gestured to the area they just walked in, which was a huge underground village.

The shacks, made out of parts of broken buildings and stolen construction materials, were stacked on top of each other haphazardly, yet it was very sturdy. They were all connected by rope bridges and ladders, christmas lights strung up all over the place. It was a tiny little civilization. A whole new world. "Welcome to Cinderblock. We call it the block for short. We have everything: shops, housing, you name it. This place is a neutral zone, so people from all the gangs can come here. If someone is caught trying to fight outside of the permitted areas, then their punishment is death. So, don't be stupid." Papi was amazed by the vastness of it. So many different types of people walking around and interacting, it was incredible.

"This way." Takeuchi directed them toward a small house. As they walked inside, Karmen gave takeuchi a look of confusion. "You're letting her sleep at your house? Why?" Takeuchi closed the door behind them. "She's training under my supervision. She shouldn't be sleeping on the streets." Karmen was taken aback by how nice takeuchi was being to this new girl. "Wow, this isn't like you at all. You should be grateful, papi." Papi smiled at takeuchi, a little overwhelmed by all the new things being metaphorically thrown at her. "Thank you, sir! Wait, do I call you sir? What do I call you?" "Just call me Takeuchi." "Oh, ok!" Karmen smiled a little at that, but tried to keep it hidden. 

Takeuchi pulled out a mattress and tossed it in a corner of the room. "There's your bed. Make yourself at home." Papi sat down, surprised by how comfy it was despite its appearance. She placed her bag on the ground, wondering what she even had in it. Karmen and Takeuchi chatted as papi dug through her stuff. She pulled out her wallet, placing it next to her on the bed. She also had a spray paint can she had just bought that day; she liked to make street art. She realized most of her stuff had spilled out onto the ground when she had originally dropped it, so all she had were these two items.

"Fuck," she mumbled to herself. She tossed it aside, opening her wallet. Karmen snatched it out of her hands. "Wow, it's been forever since I've seen the money normals use." She pulled it out, and handed the wallet back to Papi. "Hey, wait! That's mine-" Karmen burnt it to a crisp. "We don't use this as currency. If you get caught with it, you're assumed to be a snitch bribed by the police to work for them so they can catch and kill us." "Oh." Papi looked down at her wallet again, pulling out her ID. A picture of her family fell out along with it, and she picked it up. "You should ditch the ID," Takeuchi suggested, noticing the photo but not mentioning it. Karmen agreed with Takeuchi. Papi shrugged and snapped it in half, handing it to Karmen so she could burn it. 

"Wow, honestly, you were willing to throw your life away so easily, what are they making you do up there that makes you want to run away so bad?" Karmen asked. Papi paused a moment, her grip tightening on the photo. "They force you to work until you physically can't anymore. My parents ended up getting sick because no one can afford medicine, so they made me move away in hopes I wouldn't get sick too. I lost contact with them, it's been years." Karmen went quiet and worriedly looked over at Takeuchi, who seemed completely calm. "You don't need to worry about that anymore. You can't go back even if you try." He said coldly. Papi changed the subject. "What now?" Karmen shrugged. "Up to you guys. You hungry?" Papi nodded, and the three of them left the house to go get food. As they walked through cinderblock, papi gazed in awe at all the strange architecture. She was used to only plain buildings that the government made everyone build. "We're here," Takeuchi stated, opening the door for the girls. 

They sat down to eat, and Takeuchi ordered for the 3 of them. "Papi, sorry if I came off as mean, if we are going to be working together, I want to be on good terms." Karmen shyly said. "It's okay!" Papi was happy that she was being accepted into the group. The food arrived, and they began to eat. "WOAH!"Papi yelled, causing people from the other tables to look over. "This is really good!!" Papi happily chirped. "What's the food like for normals?" Karmen asked. "It's usually all gray and kinda sludge-y," Papi nonchalantly described, Karmen looking grossed out for a moment before regaining her composure. "So what do we do in this gang thing?" Papi asked. "Depends on what needs to be done. We smuggle things to normals, mostly drugs. They give us supplies in return. The leaders fight over territory and we are sent to fight sometimes. Just follow orders and you'll be fine." Papi nodded as they finished their food. 

They headed back to takeuchi's house and papi laid down on her bed, exhausted. "So what do we do now?" Karmen was saying her goodbyes to takeuchi. "You sleep. We usually just sleep through most of the day. Your day is our night." She left, closing the door behind her, and takeuchi went off to do his own thing in the house. Papi sat and took in everything she experienced in this one night. "Wow," she murmured to herself. What had she gotten into? Whatever it was, she was enjoying it. 

She woke up to the sound of Takeuchi's voice. "Get up, we have to go." Papi groggily sat up, rubbing her eyes. "What time is it?" She asked. "Doesn't matter, just get up." She listened to his directions, standing up and stretching as he lightly grabbed her wrist and led her outside. "We need to pick up the pace or you'll be late." Papi did as she was told. They left cinderblock and darted down a few alleys. Once they got there, takeuchi approached karmen. "Ready?" He asked. Karmen nodded in response. "What are we doing?" Papi asked. "Just a simple delivery." Takeuchi answered bluntly. "There shouldn't be any trouble." Papi nodded, following closely behind Takeuchi. "Stay close and you should be fine," Karmen led the group into a shady looking building. "Package is over there," an intimidating man stated, pointing toward a crate. Papi tried to be useful by carrying the box, but couldn't even pick it up off the ground. Takeuchi gently pushed her aside, scooping up the crate with ease. Papi let out an audible "oh" and awkwardly followed him out the door.

Takeuchi and papi followed karmen as she led them towards the drop off point. "What's in the crate?" Papi asked. "Dunno. Not my job to know. We just gotta deliver it." Takeuchi bluntly answered. Karmen seemed off in her own little world as she tried to figure out which way they were supposed to turn. "So is it usually us and then a few people follow behind for protection or something?" Papi asked innocently. Takeuchi paused, turning toward papi. "What?" At the sight of a stranger following them, takeuchi calmly placed the crate down. "This is a good training opportunity. Summon your weapon, papi." Karmen rolled her eyes. "Make it quick," she grumbled.

Papi summoned her pistol, the gun visibly shaking in her hands. "Am i going to have to shoot them?" She whimpered, looking terrified. "No," Takeuchi stated. "Just fire at them to scare them off." Papi hesitated before aiming toward the strangers, struggling to pull the trigger. "You can do it," takeuchi reassured. A few moments of nothing and a sudden BANG made papi drop her gun out of surprise. She turned around to see karmen holding her own pistol, smoke rising out of the barrel. "Dammit Karmen, she almost had it." Takeuchi complained, picking up the crate again. 

Papi silently followed, pale as a ghost. "She took too long. We have shit to get done." Karmen groaned. The trio continued on, eventually making it to the drop-off area. Takeuchi placed the crate inside an empty trash can. "Wait, you're throwing it away?" Papi asked. "No, this is where they told us to put it, dumbass." Karmen remarked. As they made their way back, takeuchi suddenly stopped and held his hand up signaling the other two to stop. Karmen didn't listen, continuing to walk forward. "Quit being so worried all the time. Those people are gone, let's just go ho-" an arm reached out and yanked her into an alley. 

Takeuchi and papi ran after them, but as they turned into the alley, there was no one there. "Where'd she go?" Papi asked, hoping Takeuchi had answers. "Roof. Stay back." He ordered, climbing up the wall. Papi listened to his directions, running out of the alleyway into the street. She was shocked to see karmen struggling to get out of a large man's grip. She sprinted after her, summoning her pistol. The large man jumped down into another alley, and papi skidded slightly as she sharply turned after him. Without a second thought, she fired the pistol at the man, hitting him in the shoulder. He let go of Karmen and let out a cry of pain, and karmen took advantage of the moment and kicked the man in the face, knocking him to the ground. "LET'S GO! WHERE'S TAKEUCHI?" karmen yelled, but papi didn't respond.

She stared down at her trembling hands and then back up at the man who was standing back up. She just shot someone. She couldn't move her legs. Karmen yanked hard on her arm, but it only made papi's knees buckle. "You dumbass-" karmen hissed, running out of the alley and calling out for takeuchi. Takeuchi, standing on a roof holding two guys by the back of their shirts, turned toward karmen and tossed the men off the roof before jumping down himself and began to run over. The large man grabbed papi by her hair, pulling her hat off instead of getting a good grip.. He shoved the beanie in her face as it burned away in his hand. "This is what's going to happen to your face." He threatened in a low growl, going for her hair again, but in seconds papi found herself shoved out of the way, falling to the ground. 

Takeuchi had grabbed the man's arm, a terrifying expression on his face that could even be felt through his mask. The large man suddenly fell to his knees, a cloud of blue mist filling the air as takeuchi snapped off the man's forearm. "Touch her again and you lose your head." His voice barely sounded human, more like a snarl. Takeuchi tossed the forearm at the man's face, picking up papi off the ground and continuing his trek back to cinderblock, gently yet firmly holding on to papi's wrist. Karmen followed behind him, a frown on her face. "Dickwads. They should know better than to mess with me. And papi, you shouldn't have gotten involved. I could have handled it myself, you idiot." Papi didn't respond, blankly staring at the ground. "Leave her alone, this was her first fight," takeuchi sighed. "I'm just glad you two are okay." He added. 

They said nothing the rest of the way back. When they reached cinderblock, karmen broke the silence. "I gotta go do something. I'll see you guys later." She mumbled. "We'll be in my cabin," takeuchi stated, leading papi back to his house. He sat her down on his bed, and got down to her eye level. "Are you okay? You aren't hurt, right?" He asked in a concerned tone. Papi shook her head. Takeuchi sat down next to her, and the room was silent for a moment. "I felt like that at the beginning too. It's scary. You'll get used to it." He tried to be reassuring by putting his hand on her shoulder. Papi was quiet for a moment but then began to tear up.

"I shouldn't have come here." She sobbed. "That was my favorite hat, and i almost died, and i shot someone and-" Takeuchi shushed her. "It's going to be okay. Just try not to think about it." Papi suddenly pulled takeuchi into a hug, which caught him off guard. "I just regret hurting someone," papi murmured. Takeuchi hesitated for a while before returning the hug. "I have a lot of things I regret too. We all do. We just have to keep moving and learn from our mistakes." Papi let go, and the two sat in silence for a while as she tried to pull herself together.

"Do you want to get something to eat? We have more work to do later tonight," takeuchi softly asked. Papi nodded, and stood up. The two walked to one of the restaurants and sat down at the bar. "What do you want to eat?" Takeuchi asked. "I don't care," papi mumbled in a defeated tone. The two ate in silence. Takeuchi noticed papi barely ate anything, but didn't mention it to her. They paid for the food, and walked back to the cabin. Papi's eyes lit up as she saw a beanie hanging on the front door of the house. She ran over and picked it up, examining it. 

"Where did this come from?" She asked. "Your guess is as good as mine," he answered, but they both knew who had put it there. Papi put on the beanie, her mood improving exponentially. The two went inside and papi took a nap as takeuchi prepared for the next mission. Karmen showed up and walked in without knocking. Takeuchi already knew it was her. "Did you give her the hat out of pity?" He asked. "No, i mean yes, i mean… look, she saved me or whatever and i wanted to make it up to her." "Why are you being so nice to her? You never act like this towards new people." "I'm not being nice, I'm just making sure she doesn't backstab me or something." Karmen's excuse didn't sound convincing. "Uh huh." "Shut up already, Takeuchi. Anyways, you should go wake her up, we have to leave soon." "Do it yourself." Karmen pouted at him and turned toward papi. She lightly kicked the mattress. "Wake up, stupid. We have to go soon." Papi sat up, rubbing her eyes. "Where?" "Our next mission." Papi paused. "Oh." She stood up, looking nervous. 

"What are you so upset about?" Karmen asked in a demanding tone. "I don't want to go," papi mumbled, gazing down at her shoes. "Well you have to. It's your JOB." karmen harshly stated. Papi didn't argue, following them out the door. As they left cinderblock, takeuchi tried to improve the mood. "So, karmen, what did you do while you were gone?" "Why do you care?" Karmen grumbled. Takeuchi took a deep breath and decided that conversation wasn't the best idea at the moment. A few minutes passed, and papi broke the silence. "I had a weird dream," she mumbled. 

"Why should we care?" Karmen hissed. "Karmen, knock it off. What was your dream about?" Takeuchi asked. "It had a man in it. I've never seen him before. He had this dark smoke stuff around him and he had a helmet-mask thing. It was scary." "It was just a stupid nightmare." Karmen's attempt at making papi feel better failed for the most part. "I guess so. I just get this really uneasy feeling whenever i think about it and i don't know why. Do you think it means anything, takeuchi?" Takeuchi didn't answer. They stayed silent until they reached their destination. 

"Alright, this mission is pretty simple. Those guys who attacked us earlier have been causing problems around the area, and so now it's our job to scare them off for good. Their camp is in this building." "Didn't we already do that earlier?" Papi asked. "No, stupid, those were just some dumbasses. We have to send a message to their leader." Karmen snapped. Papi became unusually quiet as takeuchi opened the door for them and led them through the building. "Stay here," Takeuchi whispered. The two girls listened to his orders, waiting as he took out some of the guards. 

He leapt to the banister and grabbed the guard railing, pulling himself up to a metal loft where a gunman was posted. Knowing the gunman was the only one who could radio for backup, he had to be the first to go. Without a sound, Takeuchi grabbed the gunman's face from behind and pulled the man's head to his upward thrusting knee, knocking him out instantly. Letting the unconscious body drop to the ground, he vaulted the guard rail, ripping a segment of it off as he landed among the two other guards below. He swung the rail at the first one, striking the back of the guard's head, causing the man to hit the ground so hard his face bounced when he fell to the floor.

The second guard swung a punch, but takeuchi effortlessly ducked under it and hit one of the foe's knees out so the man could join his cohort on the floor. Shoving the guardrail into the ground, Takeuchi pinned the second man in place before kicking his head to knock him out. Once he was done, he signaled for them to follow. They went up a flight of stairs, takeuchi in the front, karmen right behind him, and papi in the back. They reached the top floor, and takeuchi quietly gave a countdown to karmen. "Three… Two… One… go." 

He kicked down the door and rushed the unprepared guards, karmen securing the other doors by putting a seal on them to keep them closed. Papi stood and watched with no expression on her face. She closed the door behind her, waiting for directions. "Wow, I'm surprised you haven't freaked out again," karmen remarked. Papi didn't respond. For a brief moment, karmen looked concerned, but she regained her composure quickly. "Their leader should be in this room," Takeuchi stated.

Karmen lifted the seal off of the door, and he kicked the door in again. The room was empty. Takeuchi walked in, keeping his guard up. Someone tackled him from the ceiling, trying to pin him down. Takeuchi threw the person off of his back, karmen nonchalantly watching from the doorway. "Why aren't you helping him?!" Papi demanded, summoning her pistol. "Don't bother, he's fine."

Takeuchi punched the attacker in the jaw, sending the man stumbling backwards. He then kicked the side of the man's knees at full force, causing him to crumple to the ground. Takeuchi then got down to eye level with the whimpering man, grabbing him by the collar of his shirt. "You know why we're here. Get out or you're dead. You have two days." Takeuchi made his message brief and clear. Letting go, he left the room and closed the door behind him. "We're done. Let's go."

Papi was speechless for a moment, feeling sick to her stomach. "Is he going to be able to walk?" "Who cares? We're leaving." Karmen answered. Papi followed them out of the building, stepping over unconscious bodies of guards. As they made their way back to cinderblock, papi snapped. "WHY AM I HERE?! WHY DID YOU TAKE ME HERE IF I AM JUST GOING TO DO NOTHING THE ENTIRE TIME?! IT'S OBVIOUS I'M NOT SUITED FOR THIS!" She suddenly blurted. 

Takeuchi turned to look at her. She was sobbing again. "You chose to come here. You can't go back. This is to get you used to what it's like to go on missions. As i said before, don't think about it too much. Just get the job done and move on." Papi quietly cried as they walked the rest of the way back to cinderblock.

"Karmen, head to our usual restaurant and order for us, i need to grab something real quick." Karmen nodded and headed off on her own way. As they walked back to the cabin, takeuchi cleared his throat to get papi's attention. "I have something for you. I think it might help." Papi gave a halfhearted nod, following him inside. She sat down on her mattress as takeuchi rummaged through a drawer, pulling out a black mask that only covers the nose and mouth. "I used to wear this when I had first joined. It helped me cope with everything because I only put it on when I was on missions, and I would pretend that the mask would take away all the bad things I had done because when I put on the mask, it wasn't me doing the fighting, it was the man in the mask." He gently put the mask on Papi, slipping it over her head and securing it over her mouth and nose. "Thank you, it makes me feel kind of safe," papi murmured, lightly touching the mask. "When you aren't using it, just pull it down and wear it like a necklace," Takeuchi added. "Let's go get something to eat now, Papi."

Papi nodded, pulling down the mask and exposing the small smile on her face as she stood up and followed him out the door. They met up with Karmen, who was already eating. "What took you two so long? You kissing or something?" She said in a mocking tone. Papi opened her mouth to speak, but Takeuchi cut her off. "I gave her my old mask. Let's just eat already." 

Papi's mood had improved greatly, and she happily ate as Karmen and Takeuchi discussed the next mission. "Since we have the rest of the night to ourselves, we should take Papi to the training room so she can work on her aim." "She was surprisingly accurate on the first mission, and that's actually kind of impressive since she's just some dumbass newbie." Papi gave Karmen a big smile. "I guess I'm pretty okay at it because I played a lot of laser tag when I was little," She chirped. Karmen gave her an unimpressed scowl. "Figures. We have a lot of work to do, then." "Huh? Why?? I'm not THAT bad!" 

Takeuchi silently ate as the two bickered for the rest of the meal. After they finished, the three paid for the food and began to walk home. Papi had a huge grin on her face the entire way back. "So, why do we take so many jobs? What do we need the money for?" Karmen smirked a little. "I built this town from the ground up," she bragged. "All my money either goes into improving Cinderblock or for living expenses." Takeuchi nodded. "Same here. I recommend saving up your credits though, you're going to need them to buy better gear." Karmen said her goodbyes, and the two entered the cabin. "Alright, get some rest. We have work tomorrow." 

Papi sat down on her mattress and summoned her pistol, examining it closely. It was solid in her hands, but it could phase through other objects. She played around with it for a while. "Be careful with that," Takeuchi warned, and Papi let the gun fade away. She rolled over onto her side, taking a moment to think about the day. Did anyone notice she was gone? Did anyone even miss her in the first place? She tried to ignore the thoughts, closing her eyes to sleep.

She woke up to a gentle nudge from Takeuchi. "Time to get up." She sat up, sore from yesterday. "Ughhhh…" she moaned, struggling to stand up. "Let's head out." She followed him out the door, and they walked down to their usual restaurant. The two ordered their food. "Where's Karmen?" Papi asked before taking a bite of her breakfast. "She has her own duties to take care of." Takeuchi answered. "How do you eat with that mask on?" "I just move it up a little. I've worn it for years, you get used to it after a while." "What's our next mission?" 

"Actually, we only have one mission today, but it's a big one. After we eat, I'm going to take you shopping for some better gear." Papi's eyes lit up. "Wow! Really?" He nodded, sliding a card over to her. "This is what we use to keep track of credits. It's the same thing as a debit card. Also, you won't be able to lose it, because it has been magically bound to you thanks to Karmen." Papi picked up the card, and it dematerialized in her hand. "Do I just summon it like I do my pistol?" "Yeah. Ready to go?" She nodded, and they paid for their food before leaving.

Takeuchi led her to a new street that was full of many shops. "First, your clothes. You've been wearing the same ones for a few days now. They're not good for protection, either. Follow me." They walked into a clothing store, and the owner immediately greeted Takeuchi. He led Papi over to an area with a bunch of jackets. "Pick one." Papi looked through the jackets, which were all made of a leather-like material, and pulled out one that she liked. "Alright. Make sure you grab some regular shirts and pants too. Papi listened to his orders, and eventually ended up carrying a small pile of clothes.

"I'm gonna go try these on," Papi stated. "Wait, where's the fitting room?" "We don't need fitting rooms, the clothes have magic weaved in them that makes them fit any body type." Papi's eyes widened. "Woah! That's so cool!" She paid for her clothes and they walked out of the store. "What next?" She asked. "We can look around in some of the weapon shops." They entered a small building full of guns and melee weapons. Takeuchi let papi wander around as he looked at some swords. "Hey you," a man called out to papi, "you're a blood magic user, i can see the tattoo." 

Papi turned to him, surprised. "You want some body mods? It'll help you in the battlefield." Papi approached the man, curious. "What are body mods?" She asked. The man pulled out a booklet and handed it to her. it showed many different prosthetic arms and legs. Papi was taken aback by this. "Wait, why would i want to get prosthetics on purpose? Aren't those for people who lose their limbs in accidents and stuff?" "Are you new here?" Papi nodded. "Oh, welcome, then. I'll explain how it works. You know how blood magic functions, right? It has the word blood in it, it can't be that hard to understand. When you infuse magic into your weapon, it uses some of your blood in your body. We use prosthetics to make it easier to function with this kind of magic, because when you have less blood flowing in your body, it's harder to move."

"Oh, interesting. But what about the feeling in your arms and legs? Isn't it different?" "Actually, we use weaver magic to fuse the nerves together with the prosthetic. It feels just like a normal arm or leg, but looks different. But it doesn't have to look different; we actually have some models that look exactly like the real thing, but they cost more. The different types have different uses. What's your weapon?" Papi took a second to respond. "...OH! I use a pistol." She summoned the weapon, handing it over to the man. The man took a quick look at the gun and placed it down on the table. "You interested?" Papi nodded. "Follow me, I can show you some of our best selling prosthetics." Papi followed the man into another room.

Takeuchi looked up, realizing he had zoned out while examining the swords. "Papi?" He looked around, noticing she wasn't there. He began to search around the store, getting slightly more worried with every passing minute. "Papi?!" He walked out of the front door and looked around outside, calling her name. He tried looking in the neighboring stores and the nearby alleys. Nothing. He began to ask strangers if they had seen papi, and one pointed to an alley and said, "oh, i saw her go this way." 

He rushed down the alley, listening for any voices or signs of Papi. He heard screaming in the distance. He sprinted towards the sound, his fists exploding into flame. The fire lit the dark alley. Takeuchi clenched his teeth as he drew closer. Eventually he reached a locked door where the muffled screaming was coming from, and in a rush of adrenaline and worry he kicked the door down without a second thought. It flew off the hinges, making a horrible scraping noise as it slid across the floor. His heart sank at the sight of Papi. Her legs had been cut off right above the knee, a large pool of blood surrounding the chair she was strapped into. A woman looked up, surprised at Takeuchi's sudden entry. The room was very dark, the only light in the room coming from the slightly open window and takeuchi's increasingly intensifying flames. 

"Wait!" The woman cried, but it was too late. Takeuchi nailed her in the face with a punch, the fire burning her hair. She let out a loud shriek, covering her singed face with her hands. Takeuchi kicked her in the chest, knocking her to the ground. Quickly turning to the now unconscious Papi, he used the flames to try to cauterize the wounds. She had lost a lot of blood. He bent down and ripped a part of the woman's apron off to wrap up the stumps, but before he could unstrap her from the chair a bullet ricocheted off of his mask, leaving a mark. Looking up, he saw several people in the doorway, brandishing large guns. 

Using the door as a shield, takeuchi charged at the attackers. They shot at him, most of the bullets just hitting the door, but one of them managed to break the small glass window on it and lodge itself into Takeuchi's lower torso. He recoiled in pain, but quickly regained his composure. Using fire and the door to force them back out the doorway, he quickly tried to barricade the entry to buy him more time to save Papi. 

He melted the door to the wall to give himself some more time. He walked over to papi and tried to wake her, but it was no use. He kicked over a table and gently placed her behind it, recoiling in pain. He held up his blood covered hand. "I’ll have to deal with that later," he thought, readying himself for the oncoming attackers. The room flooded with color as he dropped his hood, neon lighting crackling around him. He ignited his fists again, and as soon as the door went down, he shot forward with a bolt of energy. 

He took out the largest of the attackers first with a strike of fire straight through the man's stomach, causing him to drop to the ground with an unsettling crunch. One of the attackers frantically drew a weapon and aimed it at the masked figure. Takeuchi glared at the man, and for a moment, all the attackers stood still; their blood ran cold from fear. Eventually the foes snapped out of it and the armed man continued his attack, aiming and firing his gun.

Takeuchi stepped to the side as the bullet flew by, using the opening to grab and shatter the man's trigger hand with a loud crunch. As the gunman fainted from pain and dropped to the ground, Takeuchi turned his attention to the attackers with a variety of melee weapons charging towards him. He stretched out his hand and called his sword. The blade shot out of the sheath and into his hand, managing to counter the oncoming attacks at the last possible second. The blade howled as Takeuchi's energy ran through it and began flowing out the tip of the sword like brightly colored smoke. 

Effortlessly, he dispatched the melee weapon carriers with one clean slice; they dropped to the floor in pieces. Finally able to catch his breath, he began to walk back to Papi. This was cut short by a loud bang echoing from the roof. Recognizing the sound, He tilted his head to avoid the sniper's shot, the bullet hitting the ground in front of him. Suddenly, the bullet hole erupted with vines, snatching Takuchi's blade out of his grip. He turned to look up at the sniper, and used a strong gust of wind to launch himself onto the roof. 

Before the sniper could react, he fired an aerial kick that shot a wave of ice, instantly freezing the sniper to the ground. He opened his palm, and the sword broke free from the vines, flying straight into his hand as he brought the sword down through the snipers skull. Pulling the sword free and sheathing it, he then stepped off the roof and used air magic to cushion his fall. He walked back over to Papi, leaving a trail of blood behind him. He sat down next to her, trying to put pressure on his wound, but the bleeding wouldn't stop. The adrenaline was already wearing off; he couldn't keep this up much longer.

"TAKEUCHI, YOU'RE FUCKING LATE!" Karmen yelled, seeing his head above the table. "WHAT THE HELL HAPPENED HERE-" as she walked around the makeshift barricade, Karmen's anger turned to shock and worry. She quickly began to use healing magic on Takeuchi, but he protested. "Help her first," he mumbled, the blood loss beginning to make him woozy. "Just hold on, I'm almost done," Karmen finished the spell and turned to Papi. "Tell me what the fuck happened," Karmen demanded, frantically healing papi.

"I don't really know what happened, but she went missing, and I found her here. They cut off her legs. From what it looks like, this is probably some black market scam she fell for. How did you know we were here?" "I heard your sword. It's really loud." She responded. "Not really, you just are more sensitive to it because you were the one who made it." "Ask anyone, your sword is HELLA loud." "No it isn't." Karmen finished healing papi. 

"Wait, where are her dismembered legs?" She asked. Takeuchi gave her a blank stare. He had been focused on the enemies the whole time. The two stared at each other for a while in stunned silence. "Well fuck. Are you able to pick her up?" Takeuchi nodded. "I'm sore, but I can handle it." He gently picked papi up, trying to ignore his fatigue. "Tell them we're cancelling the job tonight. I'm taking her back to the cabin." Karmen nodded. "Are you sure you'll be okay on your own? You seem pretty out of it." Takeuchi started walking. "I'll make it." Karmen hesitated, but decided to let him go. 

Takeuchi carried papi back to the cabin, placing her down on his bed instead of her mattress on the floor. He felt like he was about to pass out, but then he remembered something: THE CLOTHES. Where had he put them? He dug around his clothes looking for it, eventually pulling it out. Giving a sigh of relief, he began to lay down at the foot of the bed, but then he realized the bloodstains all over the clothes. At this point, he tossed the bag on the floor. "I'll deal with that later," he thought to himself, finally laying down and letting himself fall asleep.


End file.
